Miami Heat rookie guard Tyler Herro he wasn’t shy about modeling his game after Devin Booker.
In fact, he picked Kentucky out of high school, in part, because that’s where the All-Star Phoenix Suns played their lone college basketball season.
Herro made a good impression on his idol on Saturday night, making 10 of 16 shots and scoring 25 high points for the team to go with eight rebounds in the Heat’s 119-112 defeat to the Suns. Taking on more point guard duties, Herro also responded with career best 10 assists.
Booker, meanwhile, continued his stellar game inside the bubble in Orlando, finishing with a 35-point 15-point record of 26 shots and six assists while Phoenix has improved to a perfect 5-0 since the NBA reboot. the franchise’s longest streak since 2014.
In five games since the NBA reboot, Booker has averaged 29.4 points while shooting 50% from the field and 6.4 assists. It was his third 30-point game in the last five and 26th this season, the second total in a single season in franchise history. Booker just needs another 30-point game to tie Walter Davis (90) for the team’s career mark.
In all, the two former Wildcats joined for 60 points, 16 assists and 11 rebounds while making 25 of 42 shots (59.5 percent). Former British great man Bam adebayo, who is one of three finalists for NBA Most Improved Player, also added 18 points, seven rebounds, nine assists and three blocks for the Heat.
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The only team undefeated in the bubble, the Suns are now just 2.5 games behind the Memphis Grizzles for eighth and last place in the Western Conference playoffs. Phoenix has not participated in the playoffs since 2010.
Heat dropped to 2-3 since the restart and in a draw with the Indiana Pacers for the No. 4 in the Eastern Conference playoffs, only half a game ahead of seed no. 6 Philadelphia 76ers.
During the season, Booker, who made his first appearance in the NBA All-Star, is in 10th place in the NBA with 26.2 points per game and in the top 20 in assists with 6.6 per game to go with. 4.2 rebounds per game while pulling a career-best 48.6 percent off the floor during the start of all 66 games for the Suns.
After winning the 3-Point Contest with a record 28 rounds in the final in 2018, Booker finished second to the Sacramento Kings guard Buddy Loved, who beat Booker 27-26 in his final blow in the final round during Booker’s first All-Star appearance this season.
Herro has averaged 12.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game for the Heat this season. He is shooting 38.7% from three points, which ranks fifth among all rookies.
Kentucky head coach Giovanni Calipari recently called Booker and Herro the two best shooters he has trained in the UK.
“I know there are some guys who would be angry, but I’d tell you that when Devin Booker started, it would be hard to tell anyone was better,” Calipari said. “Tyler Herro was approaching him, but this guy was unconscious. Every time he turned around, everyone in the building thought he was entering.”
